Red Bull counting on Tsunoda to 'maximise a race strategy that favours Verstappen' · RaceFans

Red Bull have made their expectations of Yuki Tsunoda clear as he prepares to start his first race for the team this weekend.

Tsunoda has swapped places with Liam Lawson, who failed to score points in either of his first two events after joining the team at the start of the season.

While Lawson failed to proceed beyond the first round of qualifying in his RB21, Tsunoda started both of the first two rounds in the top 10 for Racing Bulls. Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said the team needs that kind of performance in order to maximise their strategic options for Max Verstappen during the grands prix.

“We were worried that [Lawson’s] self-confidence is so damaged that he couldn’t bring his normal performance,” the team’s motorsport consultant Helmut Marko told the Associated Press.

“And on the other hand, we have two drivers for the constructors’ championship but also to support Max strategy-wise, if you have two drivers [in the] top five or eight it is easier to max a strategy that favours the number one driver.”

Tsunoda has previously proven willing to help Verstappen when driving for Red Bull’s second Formula 1 team. At the Turkish Grand Prix in 2021, when the Red Bull driver was locked in a close fight with Lewis Hamilton for the world championship, Tsunoda admitted he compromised his own race strategy by trying to keep Verstappen’s rival behind.

“I want Max to win,” he told RaceFans at the time, “it’s the last year of Honda [with] Red Bull as well. I tried to hold Lewis as much as possible, I don’t know how many laps. I was trying to save more but I couldn’t.

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“I just used too much tyre early on battling with Hamilton. After that it was really hard to keep up the pace.”

A few weeks later Tsunoda’s team principal came to his defence after Red Bull’s Christian Horner accused him of compromising Verstappen’s lap during qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix. Verstappen had to slow down when his team mate ran wide after encountering Tsunoda on the circuit. “We got Tsunoda’d,” Horner said afterwards.

Red Bull’s decision to promote the far less experienced Lawson instead of Tsunoda at the end of last year prompted surprise from some. Horner said the team’s objective was to score points with both cars, something they failed to do on eight occasions last season and did not manage in the first two rounds this year.

After the first two rounds of the season Verstappen lies second in the championship, eight points behind leader Lando Norris.